County jail admits lapses in gun case

The metal detector apparently didn't alert anyone to the gun stuffed down the pants of a young, female visitor arriving at the Cook County Jail last month, authorities acknowledged Monday.

Guards also missed--or ignored--when an inmate removed a metal plate screwed into the glass separating the pair during their visit. And the two weren't stopped when the woman allegedly pulled the gun from her pants and passed it to the inmate through an opening where the metal plate was supposed to be, authorities said. Cook County sheriff's police on Monday sketched out an audacious plot that they said was used to smuggle a snub-nosed revolver into the maximum-security Division 11 on Jan. 26.

The gun was used in a mysterious shooting Wednesday that left three men in one cell with minor injuries. Sources close to the case have said investigators believe the shooting was staged so the inmates could file a lawsuit against the county, which operates the jail.

The woman, Randi White, 21, appeared in bond court Monday via closed-circuit TV, where Criminal Court Judge Thomas Hennelly ordered her held in lieu of $500,000 bail on a charge of bringing contraband into a penal institution.

Sally Daly, a spokeswoman for Cook County Sheriff Michael Sheahan, said investigators still can't rule out the idea that White and the inmate, Gregory Sherman, had help from guards who either aided them directly or purposefully turned a blind eye.